His lasting legacy is of course the Therapeutic Pocketbook – the first systematic indexing of pure proving symptoms into a repertory! A momentous achievement that has stood the test of time and is still widely used by contemporary Homeopaths, notably George Dimitriadis and Heiner Frei.
Discover the Boenninghausen approach with our handy guide!
An outline of Boenninghausen’s Schema
The personality, individuality, disposition, temperament, bodily constitution- especially how this has changed since the onset of illness.
Refers to the disease process, i.e. to its nature and peculiarity.
E.G Catarrhal, ulcerative, neurological, inflammatory, absorption / elimination.
The seat of the pathology / organ affinity / systems affected.
Concomitant / accompanying symptoms.
Help to define the individual nature of the illness through studying the totality of characteristic symptoms (not the ones common to the condition).
The cause / aetiology. Internal or external? Chronic or acute? Refer back to the first point- the constitutional / inherited roots of disease. Miasm.
How the disease is expressed. The mode, modification, aggravation & amelioration. The change of state. A fully described symptom should include: Concomitants, Location, Aetiology, Modalities, Sensation.
The time of the appearance of symptoms. Worse at night? Or in the morning on waking? Or after lunch? During a particular season? Periodicity of symptoms- E.G. Headache once a week. Agg during the week before menses. Worse at full moon etc.
A potted history of Dr. Boenninghausen and his introduction to Homeopathy
Dr. Boenninghausen was born to one of the oldest noble families of Westphalia, Germany.
He was Baron by inheritance, a lawyer by profession, and an agriculturist by natural inclination – a true polymath!
Boenninghausen practiced as a lawyer for some time and later became a judge.
Because of his interest in horticulture, he was made Director of Botanical Gardens at Munster.
Here, he came to be known as the “Sage of Munster.”
It was in 1827 that he developed purulent tuberculosis.
He was cured by Homeopathy and became close friends with Hahnemann who asked him to create the first repertory to make the herculean task of selecting the similimum a little easier.
Before the first repertory was made, Homeopaths were reading pure materia medica – basically long lists of subjective symptoms! Very arduous indeed!! His was a very logical mind, well suited to putting together the first repertorial index.
You can read more about the life of Clemens von Boenninghausen here
See screenshots of the Boenninghausen therapeutic Pocketbook in RadarOpus Homeopathic software
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